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An Upright Bass Gets a New Lease on Life

Ted's Talk about a custom upright bass bridge repair project

Ted's Talk: A Bluegrass Bass Gets a New Lease on Life

Photo of the Deuce Bridge on my workshop
The Deuce Bridge in my workshop

This client’s bass began its life as an inexpensive basic plywood bass. It was at some point: painted black with a brush and a can o’ Sears finest, stickered, punished on tours, set on fire, and doused with PBR. Then, it was hit by a car….

What to do?

Someone took some scrap pieces of Luan plywood and a bottle of Gorilla glue and went to town!! Then of course it winds up on my deck. The new owner really likes the bass. Fortunately, the “repair” of the top has held, and has somewhat muffled the volume (which is great for playing really loud through an amp.) But, the top is distorted (pic #2) and the typical bridge falls down when played with the slap/pop technique.

The Deuce Bridge (deucebridges.com) is, among other things, designed to be tip-resistant. Due to the top damage, I had to glue a shaped foot riser to the treble side (pic #3 & #4) and turn the foot to a parallel position with the bass foot. I cut the crown on the birch ply bridge “insert”, strung it up and adjusted the height. IT WORKS!!!

My impression: For the type of music this bass will be used (Rock-a-Billy and Country/Bluegrass), the Deuce bridge produces a solid mid-scooped sound with a pronounced “click”; exactly what you would want. The client is happy and it was a fun job!

“Adopt, Adapt, and Improve.” HRH Edward, Prince of Wales

Picture 2: Prep work in process before installing new upright bass Deuce bridge.
Picture 2 - Prep work in process before installing new Deuce bridge.
Picture 3: Photo of Ted's measurement diagram for custom fitting Deuce bridge.
Picture 3 - Workshop drawing with measurements for custom fitting Deuce bridge.
Picture 4: Photo of a side view showing the custom mounted Deuce Bridge.
Picture 4 - Side view of custom mounted Deuce Bridge.
Picture 5: Photo showing the other side view of the custom-mounted Deuce Bridge.
Picture 5 - Another side view of the custom-mounted Deuce Bridge.
Picture 6: Wider-angle photo of the custom-mounted Deuce Bridge.
Picture 6 - The custom-mounted Deuce Bridge - wider angle photo.
Picture 7: Photo of the restored upright bass, thanks to the custom-mounted Deuce Bridge.
Picture 7 - This upright bass has a new lease on life!

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